To understand the hows and whys of Young Adult history, we tease out the emergence of the teenager. In pre-industrial societies, a person was considered an adult at puberty through rites of passage, where kids took on roles as mothers or fathers for younger siblings. The Industrial Revolution caused an expectations shift for factory children, leading to child labor laws, compulsory school acts, and a delay in entry to the workforce. By 1918 in the U.K. and U.S.A., adolescents stayed in school until 14, fueling a rise in youth culture, music, and fashion like flappers wearing trousers and corsets less.
By the 1960s, Young Adult fiction began to emerge as a distinct category written for and catered to teens. Today, YA books encompass genres like fantasy, dystopian, contemporary, and LGBTQ+ narratives, exploring identity and the transition to adulthood. I spent time thinking about my own books, Rapunzella, Or, Don’t Touch My Hair and The Map That Led To You, noting how voice distinguishes this space. The teenage years are full of firsts, and a narrative in first person serves to root readers in stories that are intimate, compelling, and relatable.
To define the best Young Adult books, I must address glaring omissions from my list of 25 of all time before furious emails arrive. I discuss why absolutely sensational titles were edited off to condense the list, focusing on novels truly written for teenagers instead of just about them. The genre produced celebrated franchises like The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga, and Divergent, which transcended their section to dominate fiction charts. Author Ella McLeod, a Branford Boase nominee, uses her expertise to select titles for readers aged 14–18 at The Novelry.
Early YA focused on boarding schools, annoying baby brothers, and freshman year anxieties, but today the market is broader with talented authors and viral BookTok hits. This crossover within publishing indicates an expanding adult readership, with a HarperCollins and Nielsen Book study revealing 74% of YA readers are adults. While teenagers explore the life they dream about, many individuals over 28 years old engage with the genre. This social media boom cater to emerging adulthood and the dynamic space between ages 11 and 17.
In my own life, I wouldn’t revisit adolescence with a time machine or magic wishing dust from a dolls house like 13 Going on 30. However, as a writer, I frequently confront that heartbreak and anxiety to metabolize it peacefully. At Epic Reads, we love short YA books under 300 pages that pack a punch for those with reading fatigue. Whether prose or verse, these quick read titles on Amazon are must-read classics. Grab your library card, head to town, and start stacking a pile on your nightstand.
Love, Creekwood by Becky Albertalli
As someone who has followed the Simonverse for years, I was highly anticipated for the epilogue novella, Love, Creekwood by Becky Albertalli. This new New York Times bestseller is a highly anticipated novella that acts like a sequel and epilogue for fans of the novels and the movie Love, Simon. It even connects to the Hulu series spin-off, Love, Victor, making us fall in love all over again with these characters. The story picks up more than a year since Simon and Blue turned their online flirtation into an IRL relationship. It also touches on the months since Abby and Leah shared an unforgettable night at senior prom. After their first online flirting and that senior prom night, the Creekwood High crew are now first years at different colleges.
Navigating college life and a long-distance relationship is hard, but the way their story began on email is how they stay connected. The story shows the Creekwood High crew at different colleges, navigating friendship and romance through email threads. Whether it is Simon and Blue or Abby and Leah, their friendship and romance remains strong as they navigation this new story in a different way. It is a quick read that brings all the love back to the forefront. Reading these email exchanges made me feel like I was right there with the crew again, sharing their romance and friendship as they grow. This novella is perfect for anyone who wants a short and sweet story about navigating different years of life while keeping the romance alive.
The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky by Mackenzie Lee
In this funny and frothy novella, we see Monty and Percy as a freshly minted couple trying to fumble through their first time together. It picks up right where the New York Times bestselling The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue leaves off. From my own experience reading this epic story, I realized that while their grand tour across Europe is over, getting together with the person you love is something more nerve-wracking than being chased. Even though they are finally a couple, Monty realizes that the anticipation and build-up could completely spoil the mood if things don’t go magically.
The romantic allure of Santorini serves as the backdrop for this magical time, but the novella honestly explores how a couple might fumble while getting together for the first time. As someone who appreciates a quick read, I found it funny how Mackenzie Lee captures the messy reality of romance. The build-up to their intimacy is both nerve-wracking and frothy, showing that even after a grand tour, the real adventure is the person you love. It’s a perfect short story that doesn’t spoil the anticipation of the original bestselling Guide, but instead adds a freshly sweet layer to the Vice and Virtue world.
And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Monster Calls, this richly illustrated and lyrical tale is one that asks harrowing questions about power, loyalty, and obsession. In my reading experience, Patrick Ness has a remarkable way of showing the monsters we make of others. With harpoons strapped to their backs, the proud whales of Bathsheba’s pod live for the hunt, fighting in an ongoing war against the world of men. When they attack a ship bobbing on the surface of the Abyss, they expect to find easy prey. Instead, they find the trail of a myth, a monster, and perhaps the devil himself.
As their relentless Captain leads the chase, they embark on a final, vengeful hunt, one that will forever change the worlds of both whales and men. This work turns the familiar tale of Moby Dick upside down, using lush, atmospheric art by Rovina Cai woven throughout to help tells a story all its own. It is an epic triumph mixed with devastating fate that moves much faster than a traditional novel. In just a few sittings, you witness an ongoing war where the monsters aren’t always who you think. This remarkable illustrated tale by Patrick Ness is a must-read for those who want deep, harrowing questions in a short format.
What Goes Up by Christine Heppermann
How do you forgive yourself and the people you love when a shocking discovery leads to a huge mistake? In this poignant story, Jorie wakes up in the loft bed of a college boy she doesn’t recognize, instantly filled with regret. As a reader, you feel the weight of the current morning as she tries to reconstruct the events that led her to this place. Was it her father’s infidelity or her mother’s seemingly weak acceptance? Perhaps it was her recent breakup with Ian, the boyfriend who loved her art and supported her through the hardest time of her life. My expertise in YA fiction tells me that the closeness of the narrative here is what makes the heartbreak so relatable.
The story is told through free verse poems that lead the reader through a previous night before and flashbacks to her relationships with parents, friends, and her boy. This verse format allows for an intimate look at how Jorie struggles to forgive the mistake and the people involved. You see how her relationships with her parents and her boy Ian were supported by her art before everything led to the loft. It is a quick but intense read where every verse helps to reconstruct her life. By the end, the reader understands how shocking infidelity and weak acceptance can lead an adolescent to a place of regret in just one night.
Jupiter Rising by Gary D. Schmidt
In this powerful story, Jack is adjusting to a new role while grieving the loss of Joseph, his foster brother. Life gets complicated when his P.E. coach puts him on the cross-country team with Jay Perkins. It is hard for Jack to be a teammate with Jay, especially since Perkins and his buddies once ganged up to jump Joseph in a locker room. However, Jack realizes that Jay is also dealing with grief for his cousin Maddie, who was the mom of Jupiter, Joseph’s orphaned daughter. As Jack’s relationships with Jay and the orphan Jupiter grow, his running improves and he starts finding his stride. Through coaching and teammates, he builds the confidence to face a past and present that often smash together.
The family dynamic shifts when Maddie’s parents suddenly try to claim their granddaughter for adoption, blocking the only family Jupiter has left. Jack must navigate the teammate bond with Jay while protecting Joseph’s daughter from Maddie’s distant parents. In my experience, Gary D. Schmidt excels at showing how coaching and a running team can help a brother heal. This story isn’t just about P.E. or cross-country; it is about how a teammate can become a brother through shared grief. Whether in the locker room or on the track, the relationships built through coaching help Jack find his stride and protect Joseph’s legacy.
